Press Release

Springdale, AR
November 22, 2002

Contact: Suzanne Ward - 501.927.0970
Emerson Goodwin - 501.927.0970

Springdale, AR — CommunityCare Foundation and the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics are collaborating to offer The Empowerment Zone, a 12-month intense, customized, consultative relationship for five selected nonprofits agencies. The nonprofits selected for the Empowerment Zone are:

• Community Clinic at St. Francis House,
  


• Elizabeth Richardson Center,
  


• Northwest Arkansas Crisis Intervention Center,
  


• Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Benton County, and
  


• the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Washington County.

The participating agencies will develop objectives and strategies to meet growing community requests for services. The Empowerment Zone will accelerate leadership development, long-term problem solving, and resource development by focusing on the key issues facing each organization.

For the five agencies selected, the Empowerment Zone process will include:

• Compiling an organizational needs assessment
  


• Identifying current issues, and challenges, future vision and mission, and defining the critical strategic points to be developed throughout the year
  


• Creating a specific action plan to bridge the gap from where they are today to where they want to be in the future
  


• Participating in competency development sessions
  


• Reviewing agency progress and, if needed, revising the action plan

"Northwest Arkansas will continue to grow and we need nonprofit organizations to develop their capacity to serve this growing population," stated CommunityCare Foundation board chairman, Walter Turnbow. "Our relationship with the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics will ensure that agencies participating in the Empowerment Zone will be involved in a results-oriented process of self development," adds Turnbow.

The Empowerment Zone is one of the four nonprofit capacity building programs sponsored by CommunityCare Foundation. The others are Fast Forward, Executive Exchange, and ALL ABOARD.

The Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics exists to equip people in the corporate and non-profit community with the transforming power of ethical leadership. Founded in 1998, the Soderquist Center is a non-profit organization located in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and affiliated with John Brown University.

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